Esther Bell Named Next Director of Clark Art
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — The Board of Trustees of the Clark Art Institute announced the appointment of Esther Bell as the Institute's Hardymon Director.
Currently serving as the Clark's Deputy Director and Robert and Martha Berman Lipp Chief Curator, Bell will become the Clark's sixth director when she assumes her new role on July 1.
The Board unanimously elected Bell to the position following an extensive international search. Bell will be the first woman in the Clark's seventy-year history to serve as its director. She succeeds Olivier Meslay, who announced last September that he would be leaving the Clark and returning to his native France in 2026.
"We are proud and deeply gratified to announce Esther Bell as our new director, based on her countless achievements at the Clark and a career of recognized excellence in the field," said Denise Littlefield Sobel, chairman of the Institute's Board of Trustees. "She is a consummate professional, a collaborative member of the Clark's senior staff, and has honed her directorial acumen through sharp executive decision-making and a talent for forging close working relationships throughout the museum world. We look forward to her leading the Clark to even greater success in her new position."
Of his successor, Meslay noted that "I first met Esther Bell in 2003 when she was pursuing a Fulbright Fellowship at the Musée du Louvre. I knew then that she was an exceptional art historian and I have watched her forge a brilliant career. I am delighted to know that the Clark's next chapter will be entrusted to Esther's exceedingly capable hands. She is a respected museum leader, an impressive scholar, and a passionate advocate for the arts. I congratulate Esther on her appointment and look forward to celebrating the continued growth and success she is sure to bring to the Clark."
Bell is a member of the Clark's senior leadership team. In addition to leading the Institute's curatorial staff and directing the care and growth of its collections, Bell oversees the work of the Clark's library, its education and public programming teams, and its visitor services efforts. She also plays a role in fulfilling the Clark's commitment to visitor engagement, while representing the Clark on a number of community-based service organizations.
"I am honored by the opportunity to become the Clark's Hardymon Director and extraordinarily inspired to imagine where we can take this beloved and celebrated institution in the years ahead," said Bell. "With the support of my esteemed colleagues, I look forward to being a part of an exciting future for the Clark as we dedicate ourselves to ensuring that the Institute will always be a welcoming place of contemplation, inspiration, and education for all. As we continue to grow our campus and our collections, we recognize the significance of ensuring that we steward the Clark's remarkable resources with care, consideration, and commitment to fulfill our mission of extending the public's appreciation of art."
Bell joined the Clark's staff in 2017 and was appointed Deputy Director in 2022. Her first engagement with the Institute came in 2001 when she came to Williamstown to pursue her Master's degree in Williams College's Graduate Program in the History of Art, which is jointly administered by and housed at the Clark.
In her time at the Clark, Bell has spearheaded the Institute's embrace of a broader array of artists and genres, making acquisitions and encouraging scholarly research of the objects in the collection.
Bell has been involved in the Clark's special exhibitions program and has organized several of its most important recent exhibitions.
Bell also played a role in the inaugural presentation of the Clark's first outdoor exhibition, "Ground/work" (Oct. 6, 2020 to Oct.17, 2021) and its second iteration, which is currently on view through Oct. 12, 2026 on the Clark's 140-acre campus. Featuring monumental sculptural works, both presentations underscore the relationship between art and nature that are so central to the experience of the Clark.
In addition to her curatorial efforts, Bell was responsible for a expansion of the Clark's education and public programming activities, culminating in the 2025 establishment of its Division of Learning and Engagement. This project established a framework to more completely integrate the Clark's educational activities, school and community outreach, and public programming initiatives in support of the Clark's commitment to fostering meaningful engagements with art and nature.
Bell regularly teaches courses in the Williams College/Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art and frequently lectures in the United States and Europe. She has co-edited and contributed to numerous scholarly exhibition catalogues.
Before joining the Clark, Bell served as the curator in charge of European paintings at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, where she organized important exhibitions. Prior to that, Bell was the curator of European paintings, drawings, and sculpture at the Cincinnati Art Museum.
She began her career in New York, holding positions as a research assistant and curatorial fellow at both the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Morgan Library & Museum.
Bell holds a doctorate in the history of art from the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University, with a specialization in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century European art. She earned a master's degree from the Williams College/Clark Graduate Program in the History of Art, and a bachelor's degree in the history of art from the University of Virginia. She completed a Fulbright Fellowship at the Musée du Louvre in 2003 and has held several other fellowships.
In 2020, Bell completed a fellowship at the Center for Curatorial Leadership in New York. In 2015, Apollo magazine named her one of the top curators in North America under the age of forty.
Bell is active in the Williamstown community and is a member of the boards of both the Williamstown Community Chest and the Williamstown Chamber of Commerce.
Russell Reynolds Associates, New York, coordinated the search for the Clark, working closely with a committee comprised of members of the Institute's Board of Trustees.
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